LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The bill aimed at legalizing Kentucky's slot-like gaming machines took another step forward Wednesday with a unanimous vote by a House committee.
SB 120, which Gov. Andy Beshear vows to sign, now heads to the House floor for its final hurdle to becoming law.
The debate over the bill, which would preserve the state's six racetrack-owned gaming venues and their 3,625 machines that mimic slots, has centered on whether gambling is predatory and whether the state's live horse racing industry can survive without the revenue from the machines.
Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Fern Creek, prefaced his vote for the bill by saying that people are going to gamble anyway.
“I just think that we ought to start looking at ways to keep it in Kentucky,” he said. “And I think this is a good first step.”
The bill passed the Kentucky Senate yesterday despite evenly dividing the chamber's supermajority GOP caucus.
The House's licensing and occupations committee is a friendlier venue to the gaming bill than the 100-member body as a whole, where the bill's prospects are uncertain.
While he supported SB 120, Rep. Al Gentry, D-Louisville, said the measure doesn’t go far enough.
“The one thing that’s actually missing for this bill, in my opinion, is sports wagering,” he said.
But GOP legislative leaders decided not to risk complicating the historical gaming bill by adding other gaming measures such as legalizing sports wagering.
SB 120 could receive as House vote as soon as this week, though it will not be on Wednesday, said Rep. Adam Koenig, chairman of the House's occupations committee.
Reporter Marcus Green contributed to this story.
